Hackers Convert Verizon Device Into Mobile Spy Stations

You don't need to be the National Security Agency to spy on Americans' cellphone calls and messages. You only need to hack into a cellphone signal-boosting device that Verizon sells for $250 — and you can intercept all communications coming from a nearby phone

Two security researchers, or white-hat hackers, have discovered that the devices — called femtocells, or network extenders — can be easily hacked and turned into spying stations. These are small low-power cellphone stations that can be bought to improve the signal in a house

"We can operate a cellphone tower, and see everything that your phone would send to a cellphone tower: phone calls, text messages, picture messages, mobile web surfing," Tom Ritter, a senior consultant with the security firm iSEC Partners, told CNN Money. "We can see and record it all."